Kitchen-cabinet.



T. J. BRUMBACK.

KITCHEN CABINET.

(Application filed Oct. 6, 1897.)

No. 643,628. Patented Feb. 20, I900.

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS J. BRUMBACK, OF MEMPHIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO THE CLIMAXMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

KITCHEN-CABINET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 643,628, dated February20, 1900.

Afiplication filed October 6, 1897- TO all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS J BRUMBAGK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Memphis, in the county of Scotland and State of Missouri,have invented a new and useful Kitchen-Cabinet, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to kitchen-cabinets, and particularly to a flour ormeal bin; and the object in View is toprovide a self-supporting bin ofthe class named equipped with sifting devices and a receptacle for amixing-pan or the equivalent thereof to exclude dust from the latterand, furthermore, to provide an improved construction of sifter andmeans for mounting the same whereby it may be readily removed from thecabinet for cleansing purposes.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in thefollowing description, and the novel features thereof will beparticularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a kitchen-cabinetconstructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a centralvertical section of the same, taken parallel' with the axis of theagitator.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in bothfigures of the drawings.

The cabinet embodying my invention consists of a rectangular hollow baseor cupboard 1, having closed side and back walls and provided in its topand bottom walls with alined openings 2 and 3. The front wall is partlycutaway from a point flush with the upper surface of the bottom wall toform an opening to receive the front 4 of a drawer, having a bottom 5,which when the drawer is in place closes the opening in the bottom wallof the base or frame.

Seated upon the top of the base or frame is a cylinder 6 of largerdiameter than the opening in said top wall and secured to the top wallby means of keepers 7 or their equivalents engaging the lower edge orrim of the cylinder. This cylinder constitutes a bin for flour or meal,and secured therein near its bottom is a funnel 8, forming the taperedbottom of the bin and extending below the plane Serial No. 654,308. (Nomodel.)

of the lower edge of the cylinder and through said opening in the topwall of the base or frame. The upper end of the bin is closed by aremovable cap or cover 9.

Arranged within the base or frame is a sifting device having acylindrical shell 10, which is removably fitted at its upper end uponthe lower extremity of the funnel and is provided with aforwardly-extending sleeve 11, which projects through an opening 12 inthe front wall of the base or frame. This sleeve is partly closed at itsfront end to form a bearing for an agitator shaft or spindle 13, havingan exposed terminal crank 14, and the said sleeve forms a handle for thesifting device when the latter is removed from the base or cover 1. Theinner end of the sleeve is similarly closed to form a rear bearing forthe agitator shaft or spindle, and carried by said shaft within theshell is an agitator 15, having a plurality of radial blades for contactwith the inner surface of a wire-cloth or equivalent screen 16, which isarranged within the shell. In practice I prefer to construct theagitator of axially-alined hubs l7 and 18, from which radiate blades ofwire of a shape adapted to conform with the interior of the screen, thefront hub having a smooth opening 19 to allow the agitator shaft orspindle to pass loosely therethrough, and the other hub being providedwith a threaded socket 20 to receive a threaded terminal portion at therear end of the shaft. Also depending from the lower extremity of thefunnel is a holding-strap 21,

extending to a point contiguous to the lower extremity of the shell ofthe agitator and folded thereunder to form a book 22, by which the rearside of the agitator-shell is held in operative position. The front ofthe sifter is supported by the engagement of said forwardlyextendingsleeve 11 with the opening in the front wall of the base or frame. Thesleeve 11 completely fills the opening 12 of the front of the frame orbase, and when the sifting device is removed through the bottom of theframe or base the exteriorly-arranged crank-handle is adapted to bedrawn through the opening 12.

From the above description it will be seen that the bin consists of acylindrical body portion which is positively seated at its lower endupon the top wall of the base or frame of hollow construction and thatthe reduced lower end thereof is formed by means of a funnel arrangedinteriorly of the cylinder and extending downwardly through the openingformed in the said top wall of the base, the base being adapted to besupported by a table, shelf, or equivalent device within convenientreach of the operator. Furthermore, it will be obvious from theforegoing description that the disengagement of the holdingstrap(preferably made of sheet metal, as tin) from the lower edge of theshell of the sifter, the disengagement of the upper edge of said shellfrom the lower extremity of the funnel, and the removal of theforwardly-extending sleeve 11 from the opening in the front wall of thebase will release the sifting device for removal from the base after,however, the shaft or spindle of the agitator has been disengaged fromthe body portion of the agitator by turning the crank in a reversedirection to unscrew the threaded extremity thereof from the rear hub ofthe agitator and the forward removal of the shaft from the bearings ofthe said sleeve. After detachment the sifting device may be removedthrough the lower opening in the bottom wall of the base to expose itsinterior for cleansing purposes. The replacement of the sifting devicemay be accomplished with equal facility.

As above indicated, the removable drawer, which is fitted in the frontopening in the base 01' frame, is adapted for containinga mixingpan,which is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, said pan being therebyheld under the sifting device and entirely inclosed, whereby flour ormeal may be sifted thereinto without the exposure of the material todrafts of air. Also when not in use the mixing-pan is protected fromaccumulations of dust. It will be understood, furthermore, that byforming the opening 3 in the floor or bottom of the base or frame inalinement with the opening in the top wall thereof, and hence inalinement with the shell of the sifting device, the flour or othermaterial may be discharged directly through the opening 3 into areceptacle disposed beneath the base or frame when the apparatus issuspended upon a wall or is otherwise supported above a table orhorizontal stand. Thus the opening 3 provides for placing areceiving-pan either within the receptacle or below the same in order tocatch the sifted flour, and therefore adds to the convenience of theapparatus in use. Also it will be seen that by providing theforwardly-projecting sleeve 11, having a terminal bearing for theagitator-spindle 13, I am enabled to provide spaced bearings for saidspindle in front of the agitator-arms, or, in other words, to mount theagitator-spindle at spaced points between the agitator-arms and thecrank-arm, and thus leave the rear end of the spindle free from abearing. Hence the threads by which I form the connection between therear end of the spindle and the rear hub of the agitator are not Worn bycontact with a bearing, and the spindle may be disengaged from andreengaged with the agitator-hubs with facility. Thus the sleeve 11performs the double function of a support for the front of the shell 10and a front bearing for the agitator-spind le,and in addition thereto itis necessary only to provide the pliable strap 21, which is en gagedwith the lower edge of the shell at its rear side, in order to maintainthe sifting devices in operative relation with the bin. It is obviousthat the strap 21 must be pliable in order that it may be disengagedfrom and reengaged with the shell by bending the upturned lowerextremity 22 thereof.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- In a device of the classdescribed, the combination of a hollow frame provided at its top andbottom with openings and having the opening 12 at its front, said framebeing provided at a point below the opening 12 with a drawer, a binmounted upon the frame and having a reduced portion extending throughthe opening of the top of the frame, a sifting device consisting of acylindrical shell removably fitted upon the reduced portion of the binand provided with a forwardly-extending sleeve fitting within theopening 12 and entirely filling the same, a sieve secured within theshell, an agitator arranged within the shell and provided with a spindleextending through and journaled in the sleeve, an exterior crank-handle14 connected with the spindle and adapted to be drawn through theopening 12 when the sifting device is removed through the bottom of theframe, and the strap 21 located at the back of the sifting device,depending from the top of the frame and provided at its lower end withahook detachably engaging the cylindrical shell, said strap and sleevesupporting the sifting device and retaining the same on the reducedportion of the bin, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS J. BRUMBAOK.

Witnesses:

P. H. BENNETT, JOHN D. SMOOT.

IIO

